'陆游 六月十四日宿東林寺 translation: Staying at Donglin Monastery on June 14th, by Lu You'

_This is a [guest post](/contribute/#guestpost "Contribute to East Asia Student") by Helen Raftery_.

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/derekrogerson/1182584727/)陆游 (Lu You), style name 务观 (Wu Guan), is one of the most famous poets of the Song dynasty. He was born in the state of Yue, modern-day Wuxi, and wrote his first poem at the age of twelve. He traveled widely and many of his poems relate to his separation from his brother, 和子 (He Zi). This particular poem refers to a trip to Dong Lin (Eastern forest) monastery, a place he had visited once before. Lu You laments the fact that he has traveled to so many places and seen so many things that the large Yun Meng lake seems tiny to him. He imagines that he can see all the way to distant states (Xi Sai refers to modern-day Dunhuang, which was not part of the Song empire) while still being able to hear the nearby bells.